Playing pushers...Enjoy it!

Coach Chad

Coach Chad

Rookie
I do not understand why playing pushers is a bad thing. In my opinion, anyone 4.0 and under should play a well-conditioned pusher at least once every two weeks or so. Here are my reasons:
1) It is more fun to practice shots with a pusher than with a wall. I am working on 2hbh and experimenting with different grips; and it is better to do this with a human than a wall.
2) It is a great work-out. My favorite pusher plays soccer, and with his strong legs, he can run down just about any ball that I hit. It makes me concentrate on my unforced errors, and smart target placement. Basically, it makes me a more patient player who hits higher percentage shots.
3) Finally, and most importantly, when I play a pusher we can rally up to 20-25 times before a winner. CHICKS DIG THIS! They think that they are watching a couple of the best players that Orlando has!
So, in conclusion, do not complain about pushers....enjoy them!
 
Coach Chad said:
I do not understand why playing pushers is a bad thing. In my opinion, anyone 4.0 and under should play a well-conditioned pusher at least once every two weeks or so. Here are my reasons:
1) It is more fun to practice shots with a pusher than with a wall. I am working on 2hbh and experimenting with different grips; and it is better to do this with a human than a wall.
2) It is a great work-out. My favorite pusher plays soccer, and with his strong legs, he can run down just about any ball that I hit. It makes me concentrate on my unforced errors, and smart target placement. Basically, it makes me a more patient player who hits higher percentage shots.
3) Finally, and most importantly, when I play a pusher we can rally up to 20-25 times before a winner. CHICKS DIG THIS! They think that they are watching a couple of the best players that Orlando has!
So, in conclusion, do not complain about pushers....enjoy them!
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Good post and interesting way of looking at things. Playing against a pusher sounds like a good idea now since I have just started working on a 2HBH (usually 1HBH).

r2473 said:
You know, I've seen a lot of people walkin' 'round
With tombstones in their eyes
But th pusher don't care
Ah, if you live or if you die.

God damn, the pusher
God damn, I say the pusher


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GN6eTXA0VlI
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Almost 5000 posts of this junk
 
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Hi I'm Ray.....yes, tennis is fun! My goal is to get better, and it's nice to have a guy who encourages and is trying to get better too. What I love about playing this guy is that I know the ball is coming back...just not with much pace...and if I really feel the need to flex my tennis muscles, I can flat serve him hard; he just holds his racket in place and hits a lolipop return, which I volley for the winner...It does force me to hit smart targets...he only wins points with my unforced errors.....have a great day!
 
People don't enjoy playing pushers because it reminds them that they aren't nearly as good as they think they are. Losing to someone who just bunts the ball back to the middle of the court it hard for many to accept.
 
it's true. The fact that all their efforts and shot making add up to less than bunting the ball back at the T is too much for most of them
 
Coach Chad said:
Interesting...Let me ask this question: how would you define a pusher? (Anyone).
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A base line retriever whose priority is to get the ball back. Technique is usually secondary. There is no strategy apart from waiting for the other person to miss.
 
Coach Chad said:
I do not understand why playing pushers is a bad thing. In my opinion, anyone 4.0 and under should play a well-conditioned pusher at least once every two weeks or so. Here are my reasons:
1) It is more fun to practice shots with a pusher than with a wall. I am working on 2hbh and experimenting with different grips; and it is better to do this with a human than a wall.
2) It is a great work-out. My favorite pusher plays soccer, and with his strong legs, he can run down just about any ball that I hit. It makes me concentrate on my unforced errors, and smart target placement. Basically, it makes me a more patient player who hits higher percentage shots.
3) Finally, and most importantly, when I play a pusher we can rally up to 20-25 times before a winner. CHICKS DIG THIS! They think that they are watching a couple of the best players that Orlando has!
So, in conclusion, do not complain about pushers....enjoy them!
Click to expand...

One can only get so good playing against a "pusher". To get better one needs to practise with someone who can hit a decent ball.
 
sundaypunch said:
People don't enjoy playing pushers because it reminds them that they aren't nearly as good as they think they are. Losing to someone who just bunts the ball back to the middle of the court it hard for many to accept.
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^^^

Pretty much why pushers are hated, any good player should be able to handle a pusher him you keep a cool head.
 
I'll use the analogy of driving a car. I like to drive. I like to drive on a freeway where things are smoothly moving. I like driving on an open road. I like to get to my destination in a reasonable amount of time. However, I hate driving in traffic. I hate driving in a situation where I have to have ultimate patience and it takes me twice as long to get to my destination. It makes driving unenjoyable.

For me, playing a pusher is like driving in traffic. It doesn't make me dislike driving, but it does make me dislike driving on that particular day.
 
mightyrick said:
I'll use the analogy of driving a car. I like to drive. I like to drive on a freeway where things are smoothly moving. I like driving on an open road. I like to get to my destination in a reasonable amount of time. However, I hate driving in traffic. I hate driving in a situation where I have to have ultimate patience and it takes me twice as long to get to my destination. It makes driving unenjoyable.

For me, playing a pusher is like driving in traffic. It doesn't make me dislike driving, but it does make me dislike driving on that particular day.
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That is a good analogy.
 
I agree with Coach Chad that it's not bad to play a pusher once a week or so. I started playing singles with one at my club, and initially didn't find it fun to constantly run forward chasing her short, low balls. However, I soon found, to my surprise, that my running, placement, midcourt shots and things like drop shots, low slices and volleys were improving because I was getting so much more practice on this stuff. So now I appreciate it for what it is.

I don't think it's good to get into playing with one all the time though. I try to also play some people who hit a hard ball; otherwise I'm afraid I won't be able to handle it, and it is more fun. I also play the occasional singles match with a moonballer to get practice with that.
 
I agree with Coach Chad. I love playing pushers because (a) it's a good test of my skills and (b) you get to hit a lot of balls if you want to work on anything.
 
I don't believe there is such a thing as a pusher. There are guys with "ugly" but consistent strokes who tend to be fast, chase everything down, and, when they're in trouble, hit the ball slow enough to give themselves time to get back into position. If their strokes were "pretty," you'd all be admiring them. I admire them because of what they can achieve with what they've got. I'm playing a guy like this next week and I'm looking forward to it. He wins a lot of matches with his game. I'm going to work on taking the ball on the rise and rushing the net when I see he's in trouble to take away his recovery time. Any tennis is good tennis.
 
Great input...I believe it is good to play a broad range of players...the diversity will make you better; and this would encompass pushers (if they exist). Great analogy BTW mightyrick.
 
This may suprise you but folks don't like having their poor consistancy revealed, that is, they don't like being exposed for beng a lesser tennis player than they imagine or pretend to be.
 
LuckyR said:
This may suprise you but folks don't like having their poor consistancy revealed, that is, they don't like being exposed for beng a lesser tennis player than they imagine or pretend to be.
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This does not surprise me. Everyone, let's hug a pusher today!
 
danno123 said:
I don't believe there is such a thing as a pusher. There are guys with "ugly" but consistent strokes who tend to be fast, chase everything down, and, when they're in trouble, hit the ball slow enough to give themselves time to get back into position.
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I agree. I have never come across an opponent that I would personally characterize as a "pusher".

I just focus on my own game and don't care what their strokes look like.

That said, there are guys whose strategy seem to be to keep the ball in play and make less errors. And that's fine... It just forces me to be a more consistent better player.
 
Raul_SJ said:
I agree. I have never come across an opponent that I would personally characterize as a "pusher".

I just focus on my own game and don't care what their strokes look like.

That said, there are guys whose strategy seem to be to keep the ball in play and make less errors. And that's fine... It just forces me to be a more consistent better player.
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Really? You've never played someone who runs everything down and either: hits 95% slices, pops most balls back with no pace, lobs constantly from baseline to baseline (no one at net required), or returns all balls back as topspin moonballs? There's a large variety of them and there are tons of them!
 
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Yes, there are a lot of them out there. The fact is that some of them are fun to play with and some aren't. There are two slicers who I play with every week where I enjoy it. I offset their lack of pace by practicing with the ball machine one day a week so that I can stay used to hitting hard balls with some topspin.

The pushers raising the most ire among the people at my club seem to be the moonballers.
 
The best time to test my own (or practice) half volley/hitting the ball really early is to play with a pusher. And when they got lazy and give you a short one it is time to practice overhead.

Way better than a ball machine which took forever to find the right high bounce and landing spots.

Just stay cool and think of it as a free practice lesson. Why so much hate? :)
 
scotus said:
If a point extends to 20-25 shots against a pusher, you just might be a pusher yourself.
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Understood....but the women at the pool next to the tennis court think the two of you are on the verge of going pro...this has to count for something! LOL!
 
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